OneLogin is a system provided by the Government Digital Service as a successor to gov.uk Verify. It comprises a single-sign-on facility, coupled with a ‘back-office’ identity-proofing-provider. An individual can use OneLogin to interact with multiple government departments; if necessary they will be asked to proof their identity – by showing a passport or driving licence, and having their credit record checked – so that the result can be stored within the OneLogin system, and shown to a department when required.
UCD could, in principal be, compatible with OneLogin. An individual would choose a wallet provider from a managed market, use it to authenticate to OneLogin, go through the identity-proofing process, and then receive back from government proof of identity for storage in their wallet, and subsequent sharing with other service providers – in the private or public sectors – as required.
Seen this way, Government becomes the ‘attribute authority’ for legal identity, much as – say – a university is the authority for the issue of a degree certificate. This is as it should be, and would reduce significantly the need for commercial identity-proofing providers. There is, of course, a need to devise a suitable business model for such a managed market. We think there are a number of feasible options for such a model.